Taking Over A (non-working) Online Shop

Taking Over A (non-working) Online Shop

Author
Discussion

smudgerebt

Original Poster:

241 posts

112 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all
Been offered a website which has a shop that isnt online/working at the moment.

Bit niche but what is online is very agressive and cut throat (race to the bottom price wise)

To get known etc is going to take time, having a walk in shop on a weekend type thing is handy (he will still run that) but worth the time/risk/grief and if so any pointers for a newbie at web shops!

Thurbs

2,780 posts

221 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all
Sounds brilliant... you have convinced me! wink

Not sure I have anything constructive to add... Perhaps you could help by explaining the added value you are going to offer the market?

LDN

8,905 posts

202 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all
Take over for how much? What are the figures; what does the bricks / mortar shop make. Will he stay on as an employee of yours? What will be his wage? Etc. Fill us in..

smudgerebt

Original Poster:

241 posts

112 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all
He has never bothered with an online shop, just a "brick" shop, so its just me taking on the online section and making a go of that (if its worth it).

He will stay doing the shop of which i will have no control, help with any technical questions of the products and deal with the dealers till they get to know me.

He wont work for me, i wont work for him.

The take over wont cost me anything as really nothing to take over as he hasnt bothered starting a shop.

As to value to the market, thats the hard one isnt it.

Just asking if starting an online shop in a niche market where people do a race to bottom is a goer for someone who has never done a shop online or in brick.

Just asking for advice, guidance etc

technodup

7,576 posts

129 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all
All sounds a bit awkward to me. I'd not be particularly comfortable trying (and presumably spending money) to increase awareness and win business online if I'm not in control of the bit which is customer facing.

More details needed, but if he's not bothered with online so far he's maybe not the most motivated person around, which might make working 'together' difficult.

loafer123

15,406 posts

214 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all

Is he proposing to charge you a margin on stock? You need to define the relationship between the two. Who owns the brand, if there is one?

Oceanic

731 posts

100 months

Friday 27th May 2016
quotequote all
Yes please give us details, otherwise this is not really worth commenting on!

tribalsurfer

1,136 posts

118 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
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Sounds almost like dropshipping with him as your supplier.

stinkspanner

701 posts

180 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
quotequote all
Online shops are all about the price, if the prices are already rock bottom how will you make money?

DSLiverpool

14,673 posts

201 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
quotequote all
Your not taking over an online shop your starting one and buying the stock from a retail shop.
What does the B&m guy bring to the table ?
Here's a test, get his best seller, get the price and add 40% - can you sell it competitively at cost + 40%
(I realise not vat reg hence the %)
Or better still advise the product area and people on here can tell you if it has legs.

smudgerebt

Original Poster:

241 posts

112 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
quotequote all
The idea is i take over website and start a "shop" on the website.

Anything sold is all mine minus bank charges etc

Anything sold in shop is his.

Big end stuff is shipped straight from makers to customer, i dont know if that is normal or not?

I am not looking at doing race to bottom with prices, more customer service and support with the USP being you find us at events taking part rather than a trade stand looking grumpy.

A trade stand at a big event can cost £500+ not inc getting to it etc so for me online is cheaper.

Have looked at doing alot of youtube and instragram vids (works for the yanks) linked to the webpage, so you see reviews etc of what your buying.

It wont be a full time job unless/until i can make it work.

It's a hobby/sport section with a few big players in it who are doing the race to bottom to try to force the smaller ones out (i guess).

So in general: anything online is mine (minus bank charges courier fees etc) anything in person is his. No wages to think of, no rent, no rates as its all just via online.

Stock levels of the smaller bits (trousers, jerseys, things like that) will be in the shop and that it concerns me.

Bit of a ramble but its working out if its worth throwing in hundreds of hours to get it up and running and the best way to do that. After all people run very well setup shops that make profit and others run shops that struggle.

Happy to pm what it is etc

Cheers

DSLiverpool

14,673 posts

201 months

Sunday 29th May 2016
quotequote all
What about VAT
Remember clothing returns online are sky high your mate will soon get annoyed at this
Otherwise set up a shopify, link to facebook abd Instagram etc and your away
Good luck !

red_slr

17,123 posts

188 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
The risk I see is if it does badly its going to cost you money. If it does well he will just take back control.

I don't like the sounds of it myself. If the products are easy to source (i.e not made in house) then I would just look at buying some stock for a few grand and set up your own.

If you are 100% to go ahead as you are then I would be looking at

Is he LTD? Will the LTD still own the website?
Sagepay/worldpay (or whatever) who is going to be the legal entity taking ownership of that?
Same with paypal?
CPC for top keywords. Not going to be cheap from the sounds of it. You can blow £££ a day if you want on any CPC if its done wrong!
Customer returns / refunds / chargebacks etc? Who is going to cover the cost?
What happens when he is out of stock of certain items? How will you know?
Who will ship? How will you advise customers re the shipping - generally expected these days as a min very basic tracking.
Are you going to have a phone number for his shop on the website? He is going to get a lot of phone calls. (possibly)
Tax, not just VAT but also Corp Tax. If you make profits is he aware its going to cost him more?
What happens if he goes bump or just closes up? Say in 2,3,10 years whatever you build this site and its going well and he just decides to stop. Websites can sometimes do that to a business. We found we lost a % of our phone orders but picked these up via the website.
People are lazy and his he going to always do things quickly enough for e-commerce. People expect fast service. If delivery is going to take more than 2 working days people are not going to be happy.
Make sure you fully understand fees involved with all aspects of the business because they quickly add up.

smudgerebt

Original Poster:

241 posts

112 months

Monday 30th May 2016
quotequote all
Thank you.

The exact type of advice and detail i was after.

Off to have a chat/think and research into various things you have said.

Cheers